Resolve a place name, US state, or free-text query to National Park Service parks — the required first step before the detail tools. Returns each park's parkCode (the key nps_get_park, nps_get_alerts, nps_find_campgrounds, nps_get_activities, and nps_find_events all use) plus a compact trip-planning summary (designation, states, description, coordinates, headline activities, entrance fee, NPS page). Coverage is US NPS sites only — national parks, monuments, historic sites, seashores — not state parks and not Forest Service or BLM land.
Full trip-planning detail for one or more parks by parkCode: description, activities and topics, entrance fees and passes, operating hours by area/season, contacts, directions, a free-text weather overview, representative images, and the NPS page for everything else. Get codes from nps_find_parks. Up to ten codes are fetched in a single request. Use the fields parameter to trim the payload when you only need certain sections.
Current alerts for a park or a whole state — closures, hazards, caution notices, and information — with category and recency surfaced first so "is anything closed at Glacier right now?" is answered at a glance. Get park codes from nps_find_parks, or pass a stateCode for a statewide "what's closed" sweep. Returns most-recent-first; an empty result with totalCount 0 means the park reports nothing closed or hazardous — good news, not an error. An empty page with a non-zero totalCount only means start ran past the end, so read the notice rather than the empty list. Closures and road conditions change daily — re-check before departure.
Campgrounds at a park or across a state: amenities (potable water, showers, RV dump station, toilets, trash collection, RV access), reservable vs. first-come-first-served site counts, reservation guidance and booking URL, accessibility, and fees — answering "where can I camp at Zion, and can I get an RV hookup?" Get park codes from nps_find_parks. Some parks list lodging or backcountry permits instead of NPS-managed campgrounds; an empty result is not an error.
Curated things to do and points of interest at a park — title, description, time commitment, location, accessibility, and fee/pet/reservation flags — answering "what should I do at Acadia?" Covers the NPS editorially-curated activity list (distinct from a park's raw activity tags in nps_get_park). Accepts a single 4-letter park code or a single two-letter state code, and at least one is required. Not every park has a curated list; an empty result is not an error.
Scheduled events at a park within a date range — ranger programs, festivals, tours, interpretive events — answering "what's happening at Yellowstone this weekend?" with title, dates and times, location, category, fee, and registration links. Get park codes from nps_find_parks. Paginates by page number, not offset. The events feed is sparser and less consistent than alerts or campgrounds; many parks list few or no events, and an empty result is not an error.